Flight cancellation rates at UK airports are now down to about 1%, from a high in the peak of this summer’s disruption of 5% or 6%, according to industry experts.
Karen Dee, chief executive at the Airport Operators’ Association, told Travel Weekly’s Future of Travel 2022 conference that cancellations are now “down to below the normal rate”.
She said the sector had faced challenges recruiting staff amid a “tight labour market” when airports and airlines only had about two weeks’ notice in March of restrictions being eased.
“All parts of the system worked together very well, there was constructive dialogue,” she told delegates.
“It was a frustrating media narrative, pointing fingers at failures. There were not queues everywhere all the time.”
Tim Alderslade, chief executive at Airlines UK, agreed, saying: “The media stuff was unhelpful…it has not been as bad as it was portrayed.”
Commenting on moves such as capacity cuts and passenger limits, he said: “We were all working very closely together behind the scenes.”
He described the government’s slot amnesty as “an extraordinary intervention in the market”.
“We have worked through it all very well – we met aviation minister Robert Courts every week and [transport secretary] Grant Shapps’ 26-point plan had some good stuff in there,” he added.
“The sector can be quite proud of how it handled it.”
Joe Ponte, chief executive at Hotelplan UK, told delegates how the group had challenges with ski and Lapland holidays during the Omicron wave last winter – which was also its first season dealing with Brexit changes affecting work permits.
“I had six elves denied boarding – elves were deported from Finland in November,” he told the conference.
The crisis with Omicron restrictions lasted until mid-January but Ponte said it showed the value of a tour operator as it could help passengers in resort.
Over the summer, numbers were smaller so the disruption at airports was easier to deal with – although it did mean a lot of older customers with Hotelplan’s Inghams brand had cancelled.
Alderslade and Dee said forecasts suggest the aviation sector will return to 2019 levels by about 2024.
“We need to make sure next summer is better than this summer, we would be a laughing stock if still talking about [disruption] next summer,” said Alderslade.
